Jun 1, 2017

Psychedelic rock emerged in the
mid-1960s. It's heyday was 1966 to 1969.This type of far-out music gave us such
classic albums as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Pet
Sounds, Surrealistic Pillow, and The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.Today, music historians split
psychedelic rock into two categories: pop-psychedelia and acid rock.Pop-psychedelia was heavily influenced
by British bands like
The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and The Kinks (later by XTC’s
alter-ego, Dukes of the Stratosphear).The epicenter of acid rock was San
Francisco. Progenitors of this brand of psychedelia included
Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, Moby Grape, and Paul Butterfield Blues
Band.Some credit the Grateful Dead with
creating acid rock in 1965 at Ken Kesey’s second Acid Test. To
paraphrase Jerry Garcia, whatever music you’re listening to why
dropping acid is acid rock.Garcia’s wisdom aside, acid rock
usually eschews the studio tricks and soundscapes of pop-psychedelia.
It’s more focused on the guitar, guitar solos, and long jams.Acid rock is important because at the
start of the 1970s, the movement split in two. One branch became
hard rock/heavy metal and the other became progressive rock.
Obviously, this is a bit of an
over-simplification, but the acid rock of the 1960s evolved into the
hard rock of the 1970s. For a great overview of acid rock, you need
to check out Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic
Era 1965-1968.Produced by Lenny Kaye, Nuggets is
generally regarded as one of the greatest compilations in rock
history. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine named
it the 196th
best album of all-time. It’s available on Amazon for about
ten bucks (the vinyl version is considerably more). Buy it, rip it,
and then give it to a friend.Before you do, make sure you read the
linear notes, the inside cover, and the booklet. There’s almost as
much to read as there is to hear.The compact disc contains 27 great
tracks. There are songs you’ve probably heard before like “Dirty
Water” (The Standells), “Pushin’ Too Hard” (The Seeds), and
“Baby Please Don’t Go” (The Amboy Dukes).It also contains songs you might not
have heard before like “A Public Execution” (Mouse), “An
Invitation to Cry,” (The Magicians), and “Let’s Talk About
Girls,” (Chocolate Watch Band).The highlight of the album is “You’re
Gonna Miss Me” by The Thirteenth Floor Elevators. The single
peaked at number fifty-five on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966.The band’s name conjures up New York
City, many thought they were from San Francisco, but they actually
hail from Texas.They are fronted by Rory Erickson with
Stacy Sutherland on lead guitar. Rare for a rock band, Tommy Hall
played the electric jug.The Elevators hit the Austin music
scene in late 1965 and split in 1969. Legal woes and drug problems
did them in.True to the recording industry of that
era, they released four albums: The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th
Floor Elevators (1966), Easter Everywhere (1967), Live (1968), and
Bull of the Woods (1969).Their music has been covered by
numerous artists including R.E.M, ZZ Top, and Echo and the Bunnymen.
In 1990, they were the muse for one of the first tribute albums.

Feb 25, 2017

This gently psychedelic album is another of my vinyl bargain bin discoveries from the early ‘70s, which I picked up only because I knew Harvey Mandel had played with my favourites Canned Heat and John Mayall. Best known as a sideman – he later auditioned for the Rolling Stones on Mick Taylor’s departure - this was Harvey’s first solo work, dating from 1968, and an impossibly young-looking Mandel is pictured on the back artwork, a diminutive figure dwarfed by his big Gibson 355. The grooves within demonstrate not only his virtuosity on guitar, but also why his tenure with Heat and Mayall was so brief and why the Stones declined to hire him. Mayall described his technique as “Harvey’s wall of sound”, which aptly encompasses his early mastery of controlled feedback through his customised Bogan amplifier, and his later featuring of two-handed tapping, well before EVH got hold of that particular trick.This album is completely instrumental, a rarity in pop-psych terms; the only voice to be heard is that of a wordless soprano singer on the title track. However, the stylistic diversity of the tunes and the variety of the backing tracks means that it is by no means repetitive. It was mostly recorded in LA and Nashville, using the top rhythm section sessioneers of both camps: Art Stavro and Eddie Hoh from the Wrecking Crew, stalwarts of the early Monkees sessions, and Bob Moore and Kenny Buttrey, soon to anchor Dylan’s Nashville Skykine. The LA tracks also feature tight string and brass arrangements, while the Nashville ones benefit from Pete Drake’s sympathetic pedal steel accompaniment.The album as a whole is the best late-night-listening record I know of, beautifully laid-back funky arrangements fronted by a bewildering array of restrained guitar tricks from Mandel, dazzling but never flashy or tasteless. The titles give the idea: “Lights Out”, “Nashville 1AM”, “Before Six”. “Cristo Redentor” is Portuguese for Christ The Redeemer, and this title track is the exception to the rule of funk, being a solemn, operatic piece.“Before Six” features some of Harvey’s most mind-boggling sustain work, the sound looping wildly between the stereo speakers, plus a mouth-watering cameo on Hammond by longtime LA collaborator Barry Goldberg and tasty brass stabs throughout. “You Can’t Tell Me” is funkier than your average Nashville session, with Harvey wringing out the best Memphis scale licks I’ve ever heard, intertwining with Pete Drake’s slippery steel chords.The CD reissue, on the estimable Raven label from Australia, dates from 2003 and includes bonus tracks from Harvey’s Canned Heat days and from his own short-lived instrumental band, Pure Food & Drug Act. None of these quite live up to the quality of the solo album tracks, though Heat’s “Let’s Work Together” - the nearest Harvey ever got to being a pop star - has a certain boozy charm.On this CD release the two sides of the original vinyl have been reversed, probably to make the best-known track, “Wade In The Water”, the leadoff track. The original running order works better, so if you get hold of this CD, play tracks 6-10 followed by tracks 1-5 for the most satisfying programme.

Feb 22, 2017

Digitally remastered two CD set containing a trio of albums from the criminally under-rated Country Rock band. If the Shoe Fits was their fourth album and was originally released in 1976. It was followed the same year by Dance. Just Fly was the band's seventh album and was released in 1978.